If This Is A Test I'm Gonna Fail It My Best

[brandon]

TAGGED: PM To Join

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Was just the other day when he made some arrangements with his good friend Charlie and invited her over. He did not have any real work today so he was going to take this session as pure leisure. So he spent most of the late morning setting up the living room with all his equipment. White screen up for a background and such with the white mat on the bottom so he can later use his graphics program to put some background. Course there were many props as well like the couch to use and outside, depends on what she wanted. Setting up the lights for the white screen back ground he would use those with his camera. For the other places he would use the flash located on top his camera. Setting up the tripod for his camera was easy but he forgot the most important part. He smirked off then sighed rolled his eyes and head off for his room.

Grabbing his camera he checked the battery and such to make sure he was all charged up, perfect. The memory card was empty too since he loaded a new one into the slot just a few days ago, so he was all set. He head down to the living room again attached his camera to the tripod then left it there. All that stuff was set up, now lunch, he went to the kitchen which he began to make himself a simple ham sandwich. Lots of mayo, not to much mustard, swiss cheese and lots of ham with some lettuce. As he sat down at the dining table he felt his phone vibrate so he took it out. Was his friend asking directions so he gave her the address and how to get there, texted back. He smirked slowly then set the phone down and began on his sandwich. Just thinking off randomly he was wondering actually what Dodge was doing, he was sure she was working, go figure.

Either work, school or with the Winters Family helping them out which was amazing, she loved to help people. He smiled off eating his sandwich since it was rather filling for the mood, enjoying himself. He got another message so he read it then smiled again since he was happy to be having a friend over, especially Charlie. She was so fun, out going and of course herself around him and he loved it. Sure he was a tad oblivious to her constant flirting at him since he has tuned it all out and such. Besides he just think it is her being nice to him when she calls him cute or does that smile in his direction. He only has been with one girl his whole life, okay for maybe a year, which that was all the experience he's gotten. Took afraid Blaize shall turn around and kick his ass he hasn't done nothing else but made out with Dodge.

Sure like any other male his age he thought of more but Dodge was younger them him. So he did not think she was in the same sexual curiosity as himself so he left the subject alone. He figured maybe it wasn't so important anyways. His deep royal blue eyes skipped off to look at the clock and check out the time, afternoon. Perfect time for outside shots for the sun would be nice, maybe the back patio of the house would be useful. After he finished his sandwich he went to his bathroom located right across from Aidan Connelly's room. Brandon had the room down he hallway at the end and Aidan was right next to him, both quite people. He went into the bathroom so he can fix up his mop of hair and combed it out.

Shook his head so his hair will fall in random place since he did not really care his looks. He was already dressed in his dark blue jeans, black button up short sleeved shirt and matching black casual sneakers. He was dressed comfortable since he was at home for the day. Also it was warm inside so he did not need a jacket which is why he choose without it. Soon he heard his phone again vibrating on the dining room table since he forgot it there. He walked to it since he was near the kitchen anyways after heading down the hallway. Picking it up he took a glance at the text message then he smiled off turned his phone off. He went over to the front door then he opened it and smiled at his friend, did move out of the way to allow her to walk into the house. His warm smile was his way of silently saying hello to her and glad she was there.

[charlie]

As per usual, Charlie had woken up late that day. Every night before she settled into bed - or every morning, as she never really settled down until around 3 or 4 am - she set her alarm clock with every good intention of waking up to its shrill screeching, starting her day off right. But every morning when the thing went off, she promptly slept through it or semi-consciously grabbed it and threw it across the room. Somehow it always stopped after colliding with the poster-clad wall, and Charlie wasn't sure if it was because she somehow managed to hit the right spot every time, or the thing just knew to shut the hell up when Charlie wanted it to. Naturally, that morning had been just like every other, except she had been so deep in slumber that she slept through the alarm, and it kept on ringing until she woke up an entire two and a half hours after she had initially intended to wake up.

Agggh, and she had needed those two and a half hours to prepare for the photo shoot that day. See, even when she had the best intentions, something just wouldn't let her wake up when she needed to. So with that uncomfortable jolt that comes with realizing juuuust how late you are, Charlie rolled out of her bed and immediately sprinted to her full-to-the-brim closet, attempting to mentally prepare herself for the grueling task of picking out the outfits she would wear during the shoot. After a moment's contemplation and a frustrated groan, Charlie simply reached out and started plucking random items of clothing from their hangers and shelves, throwing them over her shoulder and... generally... onto her bed. A pair of pants here, a frilly skirt there, a shirt that looked so ripped it could have been used as a dishrag, a dress that looked like it belonged on a porcelain doll rather than a real human being... Well, Brandon had asked for variety, and God knew Charlie was chock full of that.

After a hurried hairstyle and even more hurried make-up session, Charlie was on her way out the door with a bag full of clothes. Luckily for the pink-haired girl, she had a wonderful ability - Biokinesis. So, if she was unfortunate enough to have any blemishes on her face, she could simply wish them away. And if her hair was being uncooperative, she would whip it into shape: change its texture, color, length, anything at all. So it was fortunate that she had those abilities, especially since she was wont to wake up way too late and have to rush out the door to whatever or whoever she had kept waiting. And what's more, she could go to Brandon looking totally different than she had the last time he took pictures of her. But usually Charlie stuck with her natural looks. Well, natural in the sense that she didn't use her powers to alter herself. Because pink hair sure as hell wasn't natural on a person.

Since Charlie was so used to being late, she was also used to multitasking. Somehow she managed to drive, drink the coffee she had picked up, and text message Brandon all at the same time, with some embedded skill she had developed after coming to Sanglignée and deciding that laziness suited her much better than activity. She got the directions she needed, as she had never been to her dear photographer's house before, and began driving in the right direction. Once there and parked - or, something similar to parking, as the poor girl had never been too good at that - Charlie got out of the car and moved to automatically straighten out her clothes, but that was entirely unneeded, as she was wearing a simple white t-shirt and black sweatpants - something very, very different from her normal getup, but a clean slate before she got changed for the photo-taking. Shaking her head at herself, she moved to the trunk and took out her bag of clothes and a smaller bag of accessories, then walked to the door. And once more, her ability to multi-task (or was it now an awesome balancing feat?), Charlie took out her phone, despite her hands being totally full, and text messaged Brandon, telling him to open the damn door before she dropped all of her possessions at the stoop, along with her overworked arms.

Not a moment later, Brandon opened the door and gave Charlie that little charming smile of his. Of course, she was used to the silent treatment - it was something that had taken some getting used to, naturally, but... Well, Charlie certainly talked enough for the both of them. "Afternoon, Brandon," Charlie said somewhat breathlessly, shuffling into the house and dropping her clothes, etc. on the floor before returning his smile. "I'm glad I managed to get here. God knows I can't take directions. You should know that - you're unfortunate enough to be my photographer." Her tone was playful, as usual. What was refreshing about Charlie was that she was never too serious. That's what made people like her, most of the time. Other times, they hated her for not being serious enough when it was appropriate. Charlie, who figured she couldn't please everyone, decided to just please herself in that regard.

"All right, so," Charlie said, glancing around the room and resting her gaze on the makeshift photography set Brandon had set up. "I suppose we should get to work and all that. I take it we're working over there?" She pointed and, since she knew he wouldn't answer, at least verbally, continued. "I brought enough clothes for the whole of France to look fabulous, so we've got the variety you were looking for. I somehow managed to pick out all the girly and frilly shit I had in my closet, so I guess the overall theme of this thing is going to be, like... banged up dollies or something similar." Charlie gave her friend a pointed look. "You'd let me know if you think that's stupid, right? Right." And then, with a small sigh, Charlie found the nearest chair and fell into it. "I swear to God, Brandon, I've never been so active prior to 3 in the afternoon before in my life." With a small laugh, Charlie shook her head and leaned back in the chair, taking a deep breath and giving her body a bit of a rest before it was time to work again.

[brandon]

The final text message came through to where she told him he was there also to open the door, he smiled off. Guess she'd have her hands full since he did instruct her to bring lots of changes. Just to see what he could work with and such, or what the grand master scheme would be for this whole session. Maybe they would work with tons of different kinds since he was not sure what she wanted. Besides personal pleasure of this photo shoot, meaning just to take pictures, he was going to use her as a model for some of his photography artwork. Show off his portfolio to people and also promote Charlie as a model too, just to help his friend out. After all she was his good friend also a very very attractive young woman and he did have so much respect for her, she have lots potential. Turning his phone off since he did not want no distractions he set it on the kitchen counter.

He would not need it and he knew Dodger was going to be working so no surprise visits from her at all, he was sure. Adjusting his shirt for the last time that fit his frame he arrived shortly at the door. Just in time too since she was unpacking all her stuff then coming to the door in some form of a struggle with all her items. No kidding she brought all the variety they would need and such, he had to laugh a little. When she came near he put on his charming little smile to greet her hello and moved out of her way. Allowing her to march into the house which she plopped her items right on the floor. A small shake to his head formed as he saw her do that but he just shrugged. Shutting his front door he locked it since all the roomies had their own keys and he did not need some bugler to come into the house. He was about to go to pick up her clothes when she began to talk to him.

His dark blue eyes looked at her as she spoke to him which he cracked a smile then laughed. Most sound anyone ever got out of him was his cheerful laugh. Now he had to give her a hug so he went over to her to put his arms around her. She was his height so he did not need to bend down at all he just threw his arms around her friendly. Tight little squeeze then he let go shook his head again then laughed, she was charming in her own little way at times. Also a riot, he loved to hang around with her for she was always entertaining. At times she would even flirt with him which he never seemed to mind at all, just smiled at her when she did. None responsive really with his actions but surely she can tell he did like it just a little. Since he did not ever yell at her to stop at all when she openly flirted with him. He felt she was not really into him that much just being friendly or that it was part of her personality, so never bothered him.

Another thing about her was that she was straight down to business and he laughed again. With a nod to her question he did point over to the living room where they would going to be working. That is when he went down to pick up her clothing she dropped on the ground. Lumped them in his arms then carried them into the other room. He put them down on the recliner sofa and let out a small heave since she had a lot of clothing. Was enough to probably dress all of San if necessary but heck this was going to work. Some outfits were probably not going to work or to be to his liking. Just as he was thinking about the outfits she was telling him the same thing he thought and another laugh came from him. "You make me smile." He kind of gestured out with his hands in simple movements she'd understand even if she didn't know sign. A bright smile went on his face but his attention went back to the clothes.

His eyes scanned potential ones for her to wear which one came over some random blue dress. Small smirk went to his face then he held it up then smiled off. Reaching over he took the pink part of her hair and looked to the dress which was a light blue color. Biting his bottom lip he went gestured a logical question out to her before he would make her change. "Can you change your hair color to the match the dress?" He kind of motioned with his slow gestures since she did not know sign language too much. Which is why he was asking small questions for now before he would scribble down instructions and hand them to her on his note pad. His eyes watched as she flopped onto the couch and he laughed at it. Walking over he put the dress in mind over the back end of the couch and took his notepad out. Began to madly write in it so he can tell her more then what he could sign out, so she'd understand.

Once he was finished he handed the notepad over to her so she would get the little memo, okay so he wrote a lot. "Being awake during the day is a good thing silly little vampire. But anyways here is the break down so you know. To change the bathroom is the first right right near where you first came into the house. No one is home so there would be no surprises at all. Radio is right over there in the entertainment system and I want you to put on the music to you like so you have the vibe to pose. Make your setting as comfortable as possible. As for the outfits, I will pick out some but you can pick out the most of them. We have three different settlings I can place you which one is in front of the white screen, the couch or we can go into the patio outside. Also smoking is allowed inside of the house there are ashtrays around here, everywhere." That was the end of the note which was printed in normal print instead of script hand writing like normal.

His script was quite sloppy at times so he wrote in print so she'd understand him, clearly. With a smile on his face that is when he patted the dress he picked out then he went to see what else she brought. Some of the items were interesting which he was wondering or thinking maybe to just let her pick out the next one. So many clothing to go through, though he did have all day for this, he smirked slowly. His eyes looked at the clock but it was early just a little past noon so he was fine. His room mates were not due back till later, as so they said, so he had the whole time to focus. No distractions at all as he worked with his friend, just a focus onto he photo shoots. He did not dig around the clothing for long before deciding to let her just pick out her things.

Moving from the clothing he pulled his pack of smokes from his back pocket and lighter too. Smoking, his one bad habit that drove his girlfriend absolutely crazy but he defined her words to stop. He loved her a lot but she was not his mother and was going to tell him what to do, he was old enough to smoke. Also his own choice to smoke so he was going to smoke. Lighting the end of his cigarette he took a long drag before he set the pack and lighter on the coffee table he moved out of his way for his scene. Walking over to the camera he turned it on then began to play with the lens to make sure it was focused well. Preparing again as he waited for her to go change into the outfit he picked or some other random outfit, really he had no preference.

[charlie]

Charlie never ceased to be charmed by Brandon. Despite the guy's being mute, he managed to express himself better than most men, and he was really warm. He was touchy-feely. And that was the exact way Charlie was... although she tended to be a little inappropriate at times, whereas he was simply innocent. That was another one of his charms: his innocence. Charlie was in a state of constant amazement, that Brandon had never really done anything with a girl before. He was a dashing young man, and for God's sake... Being mute and doing so through choice was something he could definitely use to his advantage. It added mystery to him, to say the very least, and let people - namely females - see that he had a vulnerable side, but was also strong. So the fact that there was no intimacy in Brandon's life was way beyond Charlie. He even had a girlfriend, that young thing, what's-her-name. Charlie could understand that she was young and all, but having a stud like Brandon wait on you hand and foot like he would most likely do for a girl? Hard to resist.

The pink-haired girl had made a sad attempt to learn a bit of sign language for the occasions she spent with Brandon. She was a quick learner, of course, but didn't have much of an attention span for such intricate things. Usually the two just resorted to Brandon writing things down on a pad of paper, because she would constantly question his hand motions or struggle to remember what a certain movement meant. She had sworn up and down to herself that she'd take some time out of her day - because, really, she had a constant abundance of free time - to strap down and actually learn the sign language... But she had never gotten around to it. Likely it just slipped her mind, unless she was with Brandon. And when she was with Brandon it usually wasn't an appropriate time for her to whip out a 'Sign Language For Beginners' book and study away. But the day would come when she did remember, and then she and Brandon would actually be able to have conversations without those annoying gaps in which Brandon had to sit down and write out a damned essay for her to read.

When he signed to her with what she should have recognized as 'You make me smile,' Charlie tilted her head to the side and narrowed her gold eyes, a look of confusion passing over her face. "Uhh.." she muttered, soft enough that if Brandon wanted to ignore it he totally could without her questioning it. "I think you might have just said something to me about licking rainbows, but I'm probably wrong." And thus was her extensive knowledge of sign language. Not exactly top-of-the-line. But hey, at least the two got a good enough laugh out of it when she made mistakes like that. She remembered specifically an instance where he had signed, 'Would you like another drink?' and she had taken it for, 'I give you a barrel of Jews?' Needless to say, the two roared about that for a good ten minutes before they could properly breathe again. And from that moment on whenever Brandon mentioned a drink she would dissolve into a torrent of giggles and not recover for some time.

Charlie watched as Brandon struggled with her obscene amount of clothes and then started picking through them. Finally he grabbed up a blue dress - one of her own design, actually, and one that she was very fond of - and held it up to her. She continued to watch his progress as he approached and gently grabbed a chunk of her hair, and she nodded. He didn't even have to sign the question (which looked something suspiciously like 'Can you set your head on fire for dress?', but that probably wasn't right either) for her to gather what he was asking her. "Of course," Charlie said simply, her pink lips twisting into a tiny smirk. With hardly any effort at all, Charlie's hair gradually shifted in color from its characteristic bright pink to a platinum blond, and then over that came the streaks of blue, and then the bottoms of her hair turned black. There, that matched well enough, and it was a hairstyle that she quite enjoyed. She even extended the length ever-so-slightly and gave herself shorter side-swept bangs.

Charlie watched with amusement as Brandon got out the trusty and familiar notepad to write down his instructions. It was a process the two had been through countless times before when they were doing a photoshoot. She really loved working with Brandon – he was much more bearable than a lot of the other assholes she had to work with. Charlie, although obnoxious and sometimes unbearable herself, didn’t much like being treated badly by other people, so the photographers that were bossy and controlling and bitchy did not tickle her fancy. Brandon was pretty much the perfect professional and even gave her a lot of freedom, as far as wardrobe and make-up and the like. He even let her pick out setting if she so desired (and she usually did). He was simply ever-diligent behind his camera lens, taking wonderful shots and helping her build her portfolio and she helped him build his. It was a good partnership and a good friendship, all in all.

When Brandon was finished, Charlie let her eyes travel over the script, and the more she read the bigger her smile got. “First off, mister,” she replied, her tone nothing more than playful. “I’m not a vampire. The sight of blood makes me nauseous.” And she left it at that, returning to the note and going down the list of instructions he had written, replying to each one promptly. “Right, right, bathroom’s there… Radio, awesome, I have a CD in my bag, we’ll listen to some Dir En Grey, maybe… Setting, mmhmmm… Outfits, kay… Well, I dunno, I brought them all here, you should pick them out, shouldn’t you?” She laughed a bit, obviously joking, and then went on. “Cool, patio, cool, I’m pretty into outside shots, but only if it’s not freezing cold and I’m wearing something other than a micro-mini… And I’m trying to quit. Smoking, that is. It’s going unsuccessfully so far, but I swear I’ll overcome it. Eventually.”

With a small and decidedly unladylike groan, Charlie pulled herself off the couch and started going through her mass of clothes, trying to figure out the other two outfits she was going to wear. After a moment or two of searching, she found two things that satisfied her. She turned to Brandon, who was messing with his camera, and held the first one up. “I think this one would look nice on the plain white background,” she said, nodding a bit. It was a baby doll dress, of sorts, with a lot of bright pink and other such fluorescent colors, and she much enjoyed it. And with that she could use her bright pink hair, the hair that she was most comfortable with. “And,” she continued, “I can wear this one for the outside. Sound good?” The second outfit wasn’t exactly warm, but it was so cute that she’s just have to suck it up. Charlie threw both of the outfits on the couch and then shuffled over to her bag, rummaging through it and retrieving her Dir En Grey CD. She did a tiny and silly dance over to the CD player and shoved the CD in the appropriate slot, messing around with various buttons and knobs before figuring out how the damned thing worked.

And then the lovely sounds of Dir En Grey started coming from the speakers. It wasn’t exactly mellow music, but it was the kind of stuff that Charlie liked to pose to. It was motivating. Grinning contentedly, Charlie walked back to the couch, grabbed the blue dress Brandon had picked out, and waved at the photographer before taking his directions and going to the bathroom to change. And once that was done, she came out, her hair and make-up absolutely perfect for the blue dress that now hugged her body, fitting her perfectly. She had, after all, designed it just for herself, so it looked amazing. “All right,” she said with some finality. “Let’s get to it?”